East Liverpool still looking for new recycling site

April 20, 2013

EAST LIVERPOOL - Members of City Council's Refuse/Recycling Committee will be taking a field trip next month in an effort to find what they hope is a more feasible location for the recycling center currently located on Second Street.

The committee met Monday to discuss further the topic of illegal dumping at the recycling center, which is provided at no charge by the Carroll-Columbiana-Harrison Solid Waste District.

The site has proved troublesome, located as it is near the entrance to state Route 39 and near the Broadway Wharf, causing residents and city officials to complain it has become a dumping ground for people, including those coming from nearby West Virginia.

Instead of just recyclables, mattresses, furniture and other debris are often left lying around the bins, and council members had discussed recently the option of moving the center elsewhere in the city to discourage dumping.

Monday, committee member Sherrie Curtis said one of those proposed locations, the now-closed Pleasant Heights fire station, would not be suitable, due to power lines overhead, private property next door and a small alley that would preclude trucks from getting in to remove recyclables.

Councilman Ray Perorazio also sat in on the meeting and said he had received comments from residents saying they do not want the recycling center placed in their neighborhoods, and he suggested a dead end on West Eighth Street he said would be inconspicuous.

Curtis said, however, that location is, in fact, conspicuous to those entering the city and that there is a large amount of traffic in that area.

Curtis said it is her concern that, no matter where the recycling center is placed, it will become a dump site, saying, "Maybe we should leave it where it is and beef up enforcement."

Committee member Russell Dray suggested the former Turks car lot, noting it would be visible from Central Fire Station, which might discourage dumping.

Although Perorazio reiterated his suggestion that the center should be located at the car barn in East End, Service-Safety Director Ryan Estell said that site will be used for the proposed new building for employees and that it would also leave the city fuel supply accessible to the public. He also pointed out there is already a recycling center in that part of town.

Estell said many efforts have been made to enforce the Second Street site, including using security cameras on private industries nearby that, unfortunately, did not capture the images needed by law for prosecution.

The solid waste district has paid for off-duty officers to sit in the area, resulting in not one arrest, according to Estell, who said, "When they see the cruiser, they don't dump. When the cruiser is gone, they dump. We've pursued every avenue except putting up a big barrier and having people check in."

Mayor Jim Swoger reported that a group from Northside Church has volunteered to clean up the Second Street recycling center in the near future.

Meanwhile, the committee will meet at 6 p.m. May 6 and take a trip around the city to look at possible alternative sites.